If It Makes Money, We Will Reboot It: Predator And Doc Savage Updates

The Hollywood Reporter announced today that Shane Black, director of (among other great movies) Monster Squad and Iron Man 3, has signed on to write a treatment for and direct a Predator reboot for 20th Century Fox. John Davis, co-producer of the 1987 film, will also be producing the newest addition to the franchise.

If Black’s impressive resume of writing and directing credits isn’t enough to reassure Predator purists alarmed by reboot talk, his history with the franchise should be: the director refused repeated offers to assist with the 1987 script, but eventually accepted a small role in the film. He’s in no way a newcomer to the Predator world, and I suspect there’s a good reason Davis and co. have been pursuing a larger collaboration with him for almost thirty years.

Before Black can start work on Predator, though, he still needs to get Doc Savage in the bag. Collider reports that Sony is considering a leading man that’s certainly not an ugly motha*****: Chris Hemsworth. Hemsworth in the titular role will reportedly be: “a mix of Sherlock Holmes’ deductive abilities, Tarzan’s outstanding physical abilities, Craig Kennedy’s scientific education, and Abraham Lincoln’s goodness.”

Black has a history of directing compelling female characters, so I’m hopeful that no matter what his new movies bring, we can expect more fierce females than there were in, say, the original Predator.